a letter to the speaker

The Honorable Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House,

I know you are getting a lot of flack right now, and while I may agree with a good deal of it, this is not the purpose of my letter.  I don't understand how you passed this leviathan of a budget.  You,of all people.  But again, not my point here.  I know that if the Senate would eliminate the filibuster, the bills you would send would be far different.  I get it, but here are some ideas about how to minimize risk in the upcoming midterms.

Invite your committee chairs to hold hearings on the Democrat's wacko bills.  There would be nothing better than forcing votes in committee and on the floor for some of these things.  

How about H.J.Res 19 and 65?  These two proposals to eliminate the Electoral College deserve a hearing.  And especially they deserve votes by those members whose states will be diminished when it comes to Presidential elections.  Think about the possibilities.  Of course it would be much better in the Senate where Senators Manchin, McCaskill, Heitkampf, and so on would have to go on record saying that they want the coasts to decide all presidential elections here on out.

Gun Bans.  Okay, the only reason that I know those two H.J.s  is because I am doing a paper on them, but no doubt some Democrats have put forward anything from "assault rifle" bans to outright confiscation.  Have the committee chair pass them out of committee to the floor for debate.  Get some votes on them.

Budget Bills.  Look, the best thing you could do is to get your appropriation bills out early, hold a press conference with the President saying something like:  "we heard you Mr. President, we have done our duty regarding spending. we will not entertain any cromnibus, or CRs, and we will take no action until we have a joint conference with the Senate to reconcile the differences".  Have the President reiterate what he said and maybe even drag ol' Mitch up and make sure he understands.  Maybe you could share this letter with him?

Pass legislation making the tax cuts permanent for individuals, rather than the 10 year cut off.  Get it over to the Senate, and note the Democrats voting against it.  I can just about guarantee that the hotseat Democrats over there will jump on that bill, and might even be co-sponsors.

Get those chairmen to give the impeachment people hearings and even votes.  As long as you have your House in order, it will only be fun to watch, plus give you some REAL ammunition against these guys in the fall.  Remember how impeachment went for the GOP against Clinton.  Yes, I know Trump is not publicly so popular, but there is such a current of support for the President that it might help you, if you get it energized. And compared to Congress's ratings, he is a rock star.

And for heaven sake, please lay the groundwork for real entitlement reform.  Medicare is broke, Medicaid is broke, Social Security is broken, and that is just the surface of failures to come.